Welcome to this month’s PENS, Police Email Notification System bulletin. This monthly bulletin is brought to you from the Cobb County Police, Precinct 5 Criminal Investigations Unit (CIU5) and is designed to keep you aware of safety alerts and crime trends in your area and measures you can take to keep you and your family safe.

Public Safety Topic of the Month

Safety Tips for Summer Vacation Crime Prevention

• Never advertise you are leaving town: Don’t broadcast that you and your family will be away. Wait until after your trip to share updates and photos on social media. Remind your children not to Facebook, blog, or tweet your family’s absence from home.
• Create the illusion of occupancy: While away cancel delivery of mail and newspaper or arrange for a neighbor to pick them up.
• Lights: Put inside and outside lights on a timer to establish a look of occupancy. A timer on your TV–so it’s on when you’d normally be watching TV is also a good idea.
• Lock all windows and doors: Keep valuables away from windows, lower blinds and close curtains so passers-by can’t view these items. Remember, a significant amount of crime can be deterred if homeowners do not create easy opportunities for the criminal element.
• Garage: Keep your car locked and the windows up even if its parked in the garage, and take your keys with you. If your house is broken into, there is no need to provide the thief with a car. You may also want to un-plug your garage door opener and lock the garage door while out of town.
• Trust a Neighbor: Make sure a dependable neighbor watches your house, has a house key, and has your cell number in case of any home emergency. Also make sure your neighbor has a way to shut off any alarms.
• Utilities: It’s always a good idea to turn back the temperature of your water heater, shut off the water to your washing machine (washing machine hose breaks are at the top of the list when it comes to home damage costs).

Current Crime Trends

Entering Autos

Ladies and Gentlemen, our current crime trends continue to be Entering Autos. The overnight residential Entering Autos have declined but the daytime Parks and Recreation Facility Entering Autos have increased. If you can’t take valuables and weapons with you when you leave your vehicle, stop prior to parking in the parking lot and lock items in the glovebox, center console, or trunk. Perpetrators will sit in the parking lot and watch you hide or lock valuables in your trunk. Also, double check that ALL vehicle doors are locked.

Theft of Lumber

Ladies and Gentlemen, one of our current crime trends has become the theft of lumber and building materials. With the prices of lumber being very high, we have had several incidents of unknown individuals coming to new construction neighborhoods and loading up trucks and trailers with as much lumber as they can. If you are a builder, real estate agent, or resident of a new construction subdivision we want you to be aware of these thefts.

Things you can do:

1. Secure the lumber in a locked enclosure.
2. Schedule deliveries for the days you will be using the product.
3. Have a good camera system that records the lumber and all vehicles coming in and out.
4. Have the residents already living in the subdivision be on the lookout for the thefts.
   1. Have them immediately call 911.
   2. Get a good description of the persons and vehicles.
   3. If possible, obtain a tag number and advise the 911 operator the direction they leave.

What You Can Do

Burglary Prevention

• Lock your doors, including the one from the garage.
• Keep garage doors closed-check before bed every night.
• Use motion sensor-activated lighting.
• Use surveillance cameras.

Entering Auto Prevention

• Lock your vehicles and remove items of value and items that appear to contain valuables.
• If you can’t keep them with you, secure your valuables in the trunk before reaching your location.
• Keep your vehicle locked and your purse or wallet on your person while fueling at the gas station.

Postal Theft

• Use anti-theft mailboxes with a special locking system.
• Use security cameras.
• Do not raise the mail flag.
• Do not send cash, checks, or anything that has credit card information.

Remember to CALL 911 to report any suspicious persons or activity. If you see something, say something!

Cobb County Camera Registry

The Cobb County Police Camera Registration program is a police/community video partnership that operates on a voluntary basis with homeowners, neighborhoods and business owners who own private video surveillance systems. We encourage both businesses and residents to register their cameras online by completing the form below.

This program is intended to let our officers know where cameras are active in the county in case a crime occurs. It is not intended for active surveillance, and officers will not have direct access to homeowners' cameras. Those who register a camera will be contacted if a crime occurs in the vicinity of that camera.

Information provided by residents and businesses will be maintained in a secure database.

Online Registration Form

 

If you have not already signed up to receive the monthly PENS updates, please subscribe. Feel free to forward this e-mail to your HOA members and local businesses.

PENS is also sending out bulletins and alerts through its partnership with Nextdoor.com. Discover if your neighborhood is already signed up so you may join. If not, they will provide you with the necessary information.

Stay Safe,

Det. Lieutenant J.B Wade
Det. Sergeant W.R. Pettitt

Cobb County Police Department
Criminal Investigation Unit Pct. 5
4640 Dallas Highway
Powder Springs, GA 30127
(770) 499-4578

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